As we mentioned in our holiday card, we have made it to The Bahamas!

The Bahamas are an independent country which gained independence from the British Empire in 1973. According to Wikipedia, it consists of more than 3000 islands and cays (pronounced “Key” here) only some of which are populated. We arrived in the Berry Islands group, a small chain of islands with only 750 people in the whole island group.

We were originally planning on heading down to Miami from Fort Lauderdale after visiting Nicole and Andre, then crossing to Bimini after the New Year, but a good weather window opened up for us on the 26th, so we jumped on it and headed straight over to Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands. Crossing the Gulf Stream went smoothly and we got pushed north less than we had predicted.  The weather was warm and beautiful with a full moon and a nice sailing breeze.  It was a bit crowded with many other boaters taking advantage of the weather, so we had to stay on our toes.  Overall, it was a fast and easy passage of about 22 hours and we found ourselves tying up in the marina there to clear customs and immigration in the morning of the 27th.

We weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the weather.  Those green boat shapes are the transponder (AIS) signals of other boats and ships, including multiple freighters, tankers, and cruise ships.  Only some private boats have AIS, so there were actually quite a few more.

After we cleared in, we raised the Bahamian flag and went to explore the island. Great Harbour Cay is about 7 miles long and a couple of miles wide at its widest point. It is the major population center for the Berry Islands, which only have about 750 people in the whole island group. It was more tropical and a welcome change from crowded Florida.

We awoke the next morning to the sounds of roosters crowing and had to just smile – we were in the Bahamas! 

Sugar Beach on Great Harbour Cay

This winter is another El Niño year, so the weather pattern in the Bahamas has been very active, with cold fronts moving through about 2-3 times a week. The problem with cold fronts is that the wind can get quite strong just after the front passes, but worse, it goes in circles around from Southeast to West, then North before going back to East.  When you are sailing and anchoring for the night, you want to find a spot with protection from the prevailing winds, on the leeward (downwind side) of land.  With the wind clocking around 2-3 times a week, this is always tough and especially so in the Berry Islands.

There is exactly one spot in the Berrys with 360º protection, and that is Great Harbour.  Because of the weather, we ended up staying there in the marina quite a bit longer than we planned.  However, if you are going to be stuck, it was a wonderful place to be stuck in!  The people on the island were very friendly and we met lots of other boaters there. It was a little community!  The island had a grocery store and a couple of local-food restaurant shacks which were good.

Tide range is about 3 feet in the Berry Islands. With the old-fashioned fixed docks at the marina, it was a bit of a stretch at low tide!

I had no idea that manatees love to drink fresh water. This guy was a semipermanent resident at the marina and would come by every morning for his drink.

We broke out our bikes and cycled the entire island. It was very convenient especially going to the village for groceries.  I did have to keep reminding myself that they drive on the left in The Bahamas though! There is a tidal creek, Shark Creek, that cuts across the island and if you go at high tide, you can take your inflatable boat all the way across. Even so, it gets pretty shallow in spots and we had to pull ourselves through the mangroves. We saw sharks, sea turtles, and spotted rays on the way across,

We had to raise the motor and paddle through part of the creek.

I tried my first attempt at spear fishing there.  I went with another boater that we had met.  I did not get anything, but he got a nice lobster. Better luck next time!  I need to practice with my spear more – I was about 50% deadly to my coconut husk target when I was practicing on land.

Since we were there on Jan 31, we went to the Beach Club (one of the 3 restaurants) for their New Years Eve party.  It was really fun with locals and boaters and the few land tourists all mingling. The restaurant gave out mandatory hats and noisemakers and was serving free souse for the new years, which is apparently the traditional NYE thing to have in the Bahamas.  It’s pretty much a meat soup with potatoes, and they were serving chicken, pig foot, or rib souse.  I tried a bowl of the rib souse, and it was delicious!

When we were walking over there in the dark, the local policeman stopped and gave us a ride to the party. That’s what I call  public service!  However, being cruisers, we were all getting sleepy and ended up heading home at 1130pm, so we missed the big moment and the fireworks. We did hear them while waling back though!  All in all, it was a great way to ring in 2024.

After that, it was more waiting for a decent weather opportunity to move further in the Bahamas. I was starting to worry that WildHorse would grow roots into the bottom there. However, it was a fun and relaxing interlude there at Great Harbour.  Eventually, we were able to move, so stay tuned!  Also don’t forget to check the Where We Are page for our current location.